 Gifford's injury dominated the news | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | November 20, 1960 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Yankee Stadium The Bronx, New York City, United States | ||||||||||||||||||
"The Hit" refers to one of the most famous plays inNational Football League history: a hard tackle by thePhiladelphia Eagles'Chuck Bednarik that hospitalized theNew York Giants'Frank Gifford during a game played on November 20, 1960, at the originalYankee Stadium inBronx,New York. Bednarik's tackle, which was legal and drew no penalty, has been widely described as likely the hardest and most vicious tackle in NFL history.[1]
In the game's fourth quarter, linebacker Bednarik tackled Gifford, a running back. Gifford was knocked unconscious, removed from the field on a stretcher, and transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a deepconcussion and remained for ten days.[2] Gifford's injuries forced him to retire from the NFL. However, after undergoing 18 months of recovery, he ultimately returned with the Giants in 1962, before permanently retiring in 1964.[3]
Chuck Bednarik was one of the last National Football Leaguetwo-way players. As the league developed, it became too physically demanding for most players to play both offense and defense and the two-way system was phased out. Even before The Hit, Bednarik was widely known for his toughness and durability, which earned him the nicknameConcrete Charlie, although Bednarik said the nickname came from his off-season job selling ready-mixed concrete.
The son of immigrants fromSlovakia, Bednarik playedhigh school football forLiberty High School inBethlehem,Pennsylvania, in the state's easternLehigh Valley region. Liberty High School competes in theEastern Pennsylvania Conference, one of the nation's most competitive athletic divisions; conference athletes have gone on to professional athletic careers inMajor League Baseball, theNational Basketball Association, theNational Football League, and inOlympic-level global competition.
After graduating from high school, Bednarik joined theU.S. Army Air Forces, where he flewB-24 raids over Germany duringWorld War II, earning anAir Medal, fourOak Leaf Clusters, theEuropean-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and fourBattle Stars.[4] After the war, he played college football for theUniversity of PennsylvaniaQuakers inPhiladelphia, starting on offense and defense. He was selected by thePhiladelphia Eagles with the first overall selection in the1949 NFL draft. Bednarik played his entire 14-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles, playing offense and defense and missing just three games. After his retirement in 1962, the Eagles retired Bednarik's #60 jersey number in honor of his accomplishments. In 1967, in his first year of eligibility, he was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame.[5]
Frank Gifford was born inSanta Monica, California, and went on to play college football forUSC Trojans inLos Angeles. Gifford was drafted eleventh overall by theNew York Giants in the1952 NFL draft.[6] Like Bednarik, he played for only one team in his NFL career. He was a running back for the Giants from 1952 through the 1960 injury, after which he announced his retirement. In 1962, he mounted a comeback with the Giants; he retired permanently after the 1964 season.
In 1977, a decade after Bednarik's 1967 induction, Gifford was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame.[7] He became an actor and sports commentator, working forMonday Night Football from 1986 until 1997. In 1986, he married television personalityKathie Lee Gifford.
The November 20, 1960, game between thePhiladelphia Eagles andNew York Giants atYankee Stadium inThe Bronx was important for both teams, who were vying for first place in the division. The Giants led 10–0 at halftime but the Eagles rallied to take a 17–10 lead in the fourth quarter on a fumble return for a touchdown byJimmy Carr. With less than two minutes to play, Gifford caught a short pass fromGeorge Shaw and was met almost immediately by Bednarik, whoseclothesline tackle dropped Gifford to the ground. The unconscious Gifford fumbled the football, which was recovered by linebackerChuck Weber to secure the win.
As Gifford lay motionless on the field, Bednarik stood over him, raising his arms in celebration in what has become an iconic but controversial image, since it appeared to be an excessive celebration of Gifford's injury. Bednarik later said he was unaware of the magnitude of injuries sustained by Gifford and was merely celebrating a play that won the game for Philadelphia. Gifford later was also forgiving, saying, "Chuck hit me exactly the way I would have hit him. With his shoulder, a clean shot. That's football."[1]
Bednarik and Gifford both died in 2015: Bednarik died March 21 inCoopersburg, Pennsylvania, at age 89, and Gifford died August 9 inGreenwich, Connecticut, at age 84.
After Gifford's death, his family helped bring public attention tochronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease closely related to repeated head trauma. That same year, 87 of 91 NFL players tested for CTE were found to have the disease. Gifford's family chose to have anautopsy performed on his brain, which revealed that he had had CTE.[12] The family released the autopsy results, saying in a statement, "After losing our beloved husband and father, Frank Gifford, we as a family made the difficult decision to have his brain studied in hopes of contributing to the advancement of medical research concerning the link between football andtraumatic brain injury...We decided to disclose our loved one's condition to honor Frank's legacy of promoting player safety dating back to his involvement in the formation of theNFL Players Association in the 1950s."[13] Gifford's high-profile diagnosis increased pressure on the NFL to improve player safety.[12]